- Title: CZECH-SHOOTING/REACTION Gunman kills eight in Czech restaurant then kills himself
- Date: 24th February 2015
- Summary: UHERSKY BROD, CZECH REPUBLIC (FEBRUARY 24, 2015) (REUTERS) AREA OF SHOOTINGS CORDONED OFF POLICE LINE POLICE OFFICER AND POLICE VEHICLE INTERIOR MINISTER MILAN CHOVANEC TALKING TO POLICE PRESIDENT TOMAS TUHY (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH INTERIOR MINISTER MILAN CHOVANEC SAYING: "Police were under fire from the offender and closed off the area. When the operation unit came in, the offender committed suicide. Police made it impossible for the offender to leave the building and move with two loaded guns around the town." CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) POLICE PRESIDENT TOMAS TUHY SAYING: "We will evaluate the whole action but from the information we got here at the site the action was absolutely professional." PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH INTERIOR MINISTER MILAN CHOVANEC SAYING: "The offender had two guns and police are now searching to see if these guns were legal. This man didn't have any legal problems before and was not searched by police in the past." MEDIA VAN IN FRONT OF THE SHOOTING SITE POLICE CAR IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING CANDLES LIT NEARBY
- Embargoed: 11th March 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Czech Republic
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVABX0I0MGV8TPET11DIAM1HESIH
- Story Text: A local man shot dead eight people in a restaurant in an eastern Czech town on Tuesday (February 24) and then killed himself, in the worst peacetime shooting in the country's history, officials said.
The interior minister said the attack was done by an "insane murderer" and was not an act of terrorism.
Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said the attacker, who was a local man at least 60-years old, was trapped by the police and took his own life.
"Police were under fire from the offender and closed off the area. When the operation unit came in, the offender committed suicide. Police made it impossible for the offender to leave the building and move with two loaded guns around the town,"Chovanec said.
Mass shootings are very rare in the Czech Republic, a country of 10.5 million. National police chief Tomas Tuhy said the incident was the worst on record. He said the way it had been handled by police was professional.
"We will evaluate the whole action but from the information we got here at the site the action was absolutely professional," Tuhy told Reuters TV.
Chovanec said the gunman was not known to police.
"The offender had two guns and police are now searching to see if these guns were legal. This man didn't have any legal problems before and was not searched by police in the past."
The attacker called a national television channel before he started the shooting, saying he was being bullied and that no public institutions would help him, Pavel Lebduska, head of regional broadcasting at Prima channel told Reuters.
He said the man had given his name but the station would not reveal it for the time being. He alerted the police immediately.
The man fired about 25 rounds as people were eating lunch in the Druzba (Friendship) restaurant in a residential district of Uhersky Brod, a normally quiet town 300 km (180 miles) southeast of Prague. A woman wounded in the shooting was taken to hospital.
The restaurant's owner, Pavel Karlik, said the man had walked in and started shooting with a handgun. He along with other guests, ran out through the back door and then called ambulance and police, he told news website www.idnes.cz.
Uhersky Brod is a town of 17,000 in the Moravia region, near the border with Slovakia.
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in a statement: "I am shocked by the tragic attack that happened today in Uhersky Brod. I would like to express my deepest sorrow and condolences to the families and relatives of the victims." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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